Testing of stair climbing point-of-choice prompts in Barcelona at an outdoor set of stairs and scalators on the Montjuïc site

Regular stair climbing has well-documented health dividends, such as increased fitness and strength, weight loss and reduced body fat, improved lipid profiles and reduced risk of osteoporosis. The general absence of barriers to participation makes stair climbing an ideal physical activity (PA) for health promotion. Studies in the US and the UK have consistently shown that interventions to increase the accumulation of lifestyle PA by climbing stairs rather than using the escalators are effective. However, there are no previous in Catalonia. This project tested one message for their ability to prompt travelers on the Montjuïc site to choose the stairs rather than the escalator when climbing up the Monjuïc hill. One standard message, " Take the stairs! 7 minutes of stair climbing a day protects your heart" provided a comparison with previous research done in the UK. Translated into Catalan and Spanish, it was presented on a poster positioned at the point of choice between the stairs and the escalator. The study used a quasi-experimental, interrupted time series design. Travelers, during several and specific hours on two days of the week, were coded for stair or escalator use, gender, age, ethnic status, presence of accompanying children or bags by one observer. Overall, the intervention resulted in a 81% increase in stair climbing. In the follow-up period without messages, stair climbing dropped out to baseline levels. This preliminary study showed a significant effect on stair use. However, caution is needed since results are based on a small sample and, only a low percentage of the sample took the stairs at baseline or the intervention phase . Future research on stair use in Catalonia should focus on using bigger samples, different sites (metro stations, airports, shopping centers, etc) , different messages and techniques to promote stair climbing.

Human capital in export-based internationalisation. "Managerial determinants and their influence upon the export behaviour of the firm: four case-studies of catalan exporting SMEs"

Export activities are a major source of economic growth and are considered important both at the national level and for individual businesses. Moreover, in the case of SMEs, they gain particular relevance, exporting being the most common foreign market entry mode for these firms. The decision maker’s role in the export activity is crucial, particularly in the case of SMEs. However, the extant literature on internationalization is characterized by a lack of consensus among scholars as to what constitutes the managerial factor in determining exporting. Therefore, this study focuses on the following issue: Which are the decision maker’s characteristics and perceptions that may influence the export behaviour of Catalan SMEs? To address this question a multiple case study method is applied across four Catalan exporting SMEs. The methodology chosen for analysing the empirical data is relying on the proposition testing approach while the investigation is conducted including both within and cross-case analysis. The findings show that high educational level, language skills, high risk tolerance, innovativeness as well as strongly perceived export stimuli as compared to low and easy to overcome export barriers positively influence the export involvement and development of SMEs. The study provides further insights into the research topic by jointly studying managerial characteristics and perceptions. Additionally, the majority of research on exporting topics has been carried out in the USA, so there is a clear need of investigation in the field in other countries, moreover in Spain where the exporting activities have not been as widely studied.

Multimarket contact in pharmaceutical markets

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of multimarket contact on the behavior of pharmaceutical firms controlling for different levels of regulatory constraints using IMS MIDAS database. Theoretically, firms that meet in several markets are expected to be capable of sustaining implicitly more profitable out- comes, even if perfect monitoring is not possible. Firms may find it profitable to redistribute their market power among markets where they are operating. We present evidence for nine OECD countries with different degrees of regulation and show that regulation affects the importance of economic forces on firms' price setting behavior. Furthermore, our results confirms the presence of the predictions of the multimarket theory for more market friendly countries (U.S. and Canada) and less regulated ones (U.K., Germany, Netherlands), in contrast, for highly regulated countries (Japan, France, Italy and Spain) the results are less clear with some countries being

Between specialization and globalization. The marketing of agrarian products and its environmental impacts seen from a historical perspective: the province of Barcelona in the mid-nineteenth century

Ecological economics has five good reasons to consider that economic globalisation, spurred by commercial and financial fluxes, to be one of the main driving forces responsible for causing environmental degradation to our planet. The first, is the energy consumption and the socio-environmental impacts which long-distance haulage entails. The second, is the ever-increasing flow of goods to far-away destinations which renders their recycling practically impossible. This is particularly significant, because it prevents the metabolic lock of the nutrients present in food and other agrarian products from taking place. The third, is that the high degree of specialization attained in agriculture, forestry, cattle, mining and industry in each region, generates deleterious effects not only on the eco-landscape structure of the uses of the soil, but on the capability to provide habitat and environmental functions to maintain biodiversity as well

Barcelona: l'herència dels Jocs (1992-2002)

Publicació que reprèn l'anàlisi feta immediatament després dels Jocs Olímpics de 1992, ara amb la perspectiva que donen els deu anys transcorreguts. Tot partint del llibre dels mateixos editors "Les claus de l'èxit", publicat l'any 1995, que recollia estudis sobre els impactes socials, esportius, econòmics i culturals, queden palesos els efectes a mitjà i llarg termini d'aquell esdeveniment. També inclou la transcripció d'una conversa realitzada el juny del 2002 entre els tres màxims responsables dels Jocs: Joan Antoni Samaranch, Pasqual Maragall i Josep Miquel Abad.

La Història del projecte olímpic: [Barcelona'92]

Classe impartida per l'historiador Alfred Bosch sobre l'evolució de la candidatura de Barcelona'92 i del Comitè Organitzador en el curs universitari sobre Olimpisme organitzat pel CEO-UAB al febrer de 1992.

La Historia del proyecto olímpico: [Barcelona 92']

Clase impartida por el historiador Alfred Bosch sobre la evolución de la candidatura de Barcelona'92 y del Comité Organizador de los Juegos en el curso universitario sobre Olimpismo organizado por el CEO-UAB en febrero de 1992.

Operacions de premsa: [Barcelona'92]

Classe impartida pel director de la Divisió d'Operacions de Premsa del COOB'92 en el curs universitari sobre Olimpisme organitzat pel CEO-UAB al febrer de 1992 sobre la planificació de les operacions de premsa per als Jocs Olímpics de Barcelona'92.

Operaciones de prensa: [Barcelona'92]

Clase impartida por el director de la División de Operaciones de Prensa del COOB'92 en el curso universitario sobre Olimpismo organizado por el CEO-UAB en febrero de 1992 sobre la planificación de las operaciones de prensa en los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona'92.

Les Repercussions urbaní­stiques dels Jocs Olí­mpics de Barcelona

Classe impartida pel director de l'Institut d'Estudis Metropolitans en el curs universitari sobre Olimpisme organitzat pel CEO-UAB al febrer de 1992 sobre els impactes urbanístics dels Jocs Olímpics de Barcelona'92.

El teatre de Harold Pinter a Barcelona

Aquest treball analitza l’impacte que ha tingut el dramaturg Harold Pinter a la ciutat de Barcelona des de la primer vegada que s’hi va representar, l’any 1963, fins que es va celebrar el festival Tardor Pinter, l’any 1996. La investigació s’ha fet, sobretot, a partir de la premsa de l’època però també s’ha tingut en compte material gràfic i entrevistes. L’objectiu ha estat observar l’evolució de l’opinió que suscitaven les obres d’aquest autor i com, de mica en mica es va arribar a convertir en un model creatiu per al grup d’El Teatro Fronterizo, encapçalat per José Sanchis Sinisterra.

La Cultura mediterránea en los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona'92

En este artículo publicado en la revista INCOM, se describe y analiza la presencia de elementos mediterráneos en las ceremonias de los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona'92.

El Marc polític de Barcelona'92

Document on s'analitza el marc polític existent durant l'organització dels Jocs de Barcelona'92. Consisteix en la transcripció de la conferència impartida en el simposi internacional Jocs Olímpics, Comunicació i intercanvis culturals celebrat l'any 1994.

1st National Accessiblity Plan 2004-2012: achieving equal opportunities and full participation through design for all

According to official statistics, disabled people in Spain number 3.5 million and make up 8.8% of the Spanish population. This group of people are increasingly being recognised as members of society with equal rights, and many of their demands are gradually being transformed into solutions that benefit society as a whole. One example is improved accessibility. Accessible built environments are more human and inclusive places, as well as being easier to get around. Improved accessibility is now recognised as a requirement shared by all members of society, although it is achieved thanks to the demands of disabled people and their representatives. The 1st National Accessibility Plan is a strategic framework for action aimed at ensuring that new products, services and built environments are designed to be accessible for as many people as possible (Design for All) and that existing ones are gradually duly adapted.